Sarah Ferguson: Duchess of York’s four controversial moments

Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York reportedly “returned” to the royal family in December 2023, here’s a look at four of her controversial moments.

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WHY CHARLES WELCOMED SARAH FERGUSON BACK TO ROYAL FAMILY

Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson was rumoured to have returned to the royal family in December 2023. This was after she joined the royal family on their annual photographed walk to St Mary Magdalene’s church on the Sandringham estate for Christmas. This marked the Duchess of York’s return to the tradition after about 30 years, according to reports.

So, who is Fergie? She is the mom of Queen Elizabeth’s two grandchildren – Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. She is also known as the Duchess of York, she kept the title after she divorced Prince Andrew in 1996.

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FIVE CONTROVERSIES SURROUNDING THE DUCHESS OF YORK

THE ‘TOE’ SCANDAL

The Duchess of York was rumoured to have had an affair while married to Prince Andrew with with American Steve Wyatt. At the time, the Queen announced that the pair separated in 1992. However, Fergie and Prince Andrew only got divorced in 1996.

Fergie was later photographed with her toe in another man’s mouth, while she was still legally married to Andrew. The “other man” was Texan financial advisor John Bryan – a friend of Andrew.

OFFERED A JOURNALIST ACCESSED TO PRINCE ANDREW

Another controversy from Fergie was in 2010, when she appeared to be offering to sell a journalist access to Andrew as part of a business deal. However, she denied this in an interview with Harper Bazaar.

“I didn’t do that, selling access . . . I said, ‘If you’re going to invest in my business, with that comes my family, because we’re all a team together.’ But the way it came across in the video, it was so horrible, because they cut it and edited it,” she said to the publication.

DUCHESS OF DEBT

ABC News dubbed Fergie the “Duchess of Debt” after her company Hartmoor LLC in New York, her Stateside HQ was closed. The company was reportedly closed due to “significant debts.”

JEFFREY EPSTEIN

In 2015, Daily Mail reported that Fergie was once given £15,000 (R307k) from paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein. This was believed to be to pay off her debt. The deal was allegedly struck in December 2010, days after Andrew flew out to visit Epstein in New York.